Document-file.



B. R. PORTER. DOCUMENT FILE.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP MAR. 28, 1963. ooooooo L.

PATENTED AUG. 18, 1903.

flue/12907 UNITED STATES Patented August 18, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

BERTRAND R. PORTER, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO ROCKWELL d? RUPEL COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

DOCUMENT-FILE.

SPEGIFZGATION forming part of Letters IPatent No. 736,776, dated August 18, 1903.

Application filed March 28,1903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LBIJRTRA R. Pon'rnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Document Files, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to document-files of that type wherein a frame consisting of a bottom and end plate has a pair of parallel rods bent at a right angle connecting said plates and equipped with a movable follower-plate which is adjustable to various positions along the horizontal portion of said rods to clamp a bunch of documents or files between said movable follower and the vertical end wall of the frame; and my invention consists in a simplified and improved means for holding the movable follower in place and at the same time permitting its quick and easy adjustment to varying positions along its supporting-rods.

To this end my invention consists in an improved document-f1le having the peculiarities of construction and operation substantially as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the complete device. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof, and Fig. 3 is a detail, partly in section and partly broken away, illustrating the construction and mode of operation of the clamp.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the base-plate, and B the vertical end wall of the device.

D D represent a pair of parallel bent rods, each having a horizontal and vertical portion, the former of which is securred to the inner face of the end plate 13, while the latter is mounted on the opposite end of the base-plate A. The rods D constitute the carriers on which is slidably supported the follower-plate E, this latter being mounted 011 the rods through the agency of a transverse metal bar F, secured to the inner face of the followerplate and provided at its opposite ends with holes through which the rods D pass. One

end of the bar F is provided with a looped portion f, the opposite sides of which are ap Serial No. 150,012. (No model.)

ertured for the reception of the rod D supporting that end of the bar, the inwardly-bent end portion of the loop being extended inwardly partially across the face of the follower-plate and secured to the latter, as by means of a screw G.

II designates an arm formed of a strip of elastic metal securely clamped at its inner end by the screw G between the overlapping end of the loop f and the underlying outer face of the bar F. The outer end portion of the elastic arm H is provided with a horizontally-elongated or oblong-shaped aperture 7L,

Fig. 3, through which passes the rod D at that side of the follower, and said end of the bar II is also provided with a short vertical extension h, which in cooperation with a similar vertical extension f on that side of the loop which is remote from the follower-plate 7o constitutes a thumb-clamp for releasing the bite of the arm H upon the rod D. The dis tance from the point at which the arm II is secured to the follower-plate to the inner edge of the elongated aperture 71 is slightly greater 7 5 than the distance from said point to the nearest point on the rod D, from which it follows that the natural elasticity of the rod H causes the inner edge of its elongated slot h to bite against the adjacent inner surface of the rod sufliciently to prevent any outward movement of the follower-plate, the inward movement of the latter of course being prevented when the file is in use by the stack of papers or documents clamped'between the follower-plate and the end wall B. WVhen, however, it is desired to retract the follower-plate for the removal of one or more of the documents or for the insertion of additional documents, the user with his thumb and forefinger exerts a 0 clamping action on the uprights f and h, thereby retracting the outer end of the arm h suffi cientlyv to temporarily destroy its bite against the rod, whereupon the barf, with the follower carried thereby, is free to slide 5 rearwardly of the frame. On being subse quently pushed forward, however, to securely clamp the interposed documents the arm H instantly resumes its biting action on the rod D and holds the follower-plate securely in its newly-adjusted position.

I claim- 1. In adocument-file, the combination with a follower-supporting frame having as elements thereof a pair of fixed parallel rods, of a follower-plate, a transverse bar to one face of which said follower-plate is secured between said rods, said bar having its ends apertured and slidingly mounted on said rods, an elastic arm secured at one end on the outer face of said bar and having its other end provided with a horizontally elongated slot through which one of said rods passes, said slot being so positioned that the inner edge thereof is caused, by the elasticity of the arm, to bite against the adjacent surface of the rod, and a fixed thumb clasp member disposed adjacent to and 011 the release side of the slotted end of said elastic arm, substantially as described.

2. In a document-file, the combination with a follower-supporting frame having as elements thereof a pair of fixed parallel rods, of a follower-plate, a transverse bar to one face of which said follower-plate is secured between said rods, said bar having one of its ends made in the form of a loop and both of its ends apertured and slidingly mounted upon said rods, an elastic arm secured at its inner end to said transverse bar within said loop and having its outer end provided with a horizontallyelongated aperture the inner edge of which normally engages and bites against the rod passed through said aperture, and extension-pieces on said arm and a side member of said loop whereby said parts may be clamped together to retract the arm and release it from biting engagement with the rod, substantially as described.

3. The combination with the base A and end Wall E, of the parallel rods D, the bar F slidingly mounted on said rods and having the looped portion f, the follower-plate E secured to one face of said bar, the spring-arm 11 secured at its inner end to said bar and provided at its outer end with the horizontallyelongated aperture h, the inner end whereof normally bites against the adjacent surface of the rod D, and the vertical extensions f and h constituting elements of a clamp to release the spring-arm from biting engagement with the rod, said parts being combined and operating substantially in the manner shown and described.

BERTRAND R. PORTER. Witnesses:

HENRY M. BUTZEL, FRED M. BUTZEL. 

